Dr. Strathearn is Professor of Pediatrics and the Division Director for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the University of Iowa, as well as Physician Director of the Center for Disabilities and Development at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital. He holds the William E. Bell/Gail A. McGuiness Endowed Chair for Pediatric Neurodevelopment. He is also the Director of the Attachment and Neurodevelopment Lab, which focuses on the neurobiology of mother-infant attachment, and neurodevelopmental disabilities such as autism. This includes a longitudinal study of women and their infants, examining maternal brain and hormone responses to infant facial expressions using functional MRI. He is currently developing a smart phone app to collect research data during pregnancy and early infancy, in order to discover early predictors of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. His work also explores the development of attachment behavior, and how drugs of abuse may highjack these relationships. His most recent research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health examines maternal brain responses of drug-addicted mothers, and the potential role of intranasal oxytocin to enhance parental caregiving.